The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US average was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
